Only A Moment
by DisneyStar4Ever
Summary: Story offer for s2BloodyBecca from Deviantart/AwkwardAndConfused from Fanfiction/disturbingly-average from Tumblr. Benson takes the employees to the beach for the weekend. Story cover drawn by her, too! :D


**Capturing a Moment**

**A/N This is a story offer for s2BloodyBecca from Deviantart/AwkwardAndConfused from Fanfiction/disturbingly-average from Tumblr. Hope you like it, dude! :D**

It was a bright sunny day in Quintel City and the park employees were down at the beach, instead of at the park doing work. No, this wasn't a plan formulated by Mordecai and Rigby to skip out on work. It was a kind offer from Benson on what to do for the weekend. As soon as they got there, the duo dropped their stuff and raced each other to the water, Mordecai having won only by a mere inch. This emmited a groan from Rigby, a laugh from the blue jay and a small water fight quickly following.

Skips and Benson lay out on beach chairs, umbrellas shading them from the sun although they both wore dark sunglasses, sunscreen on their faces. Pops began building a sandcastle, having bought buckets and spades he used since he was younger. Thomas helped him build a moat and kept having to run and forth from the castle to the water. Muscle Man and Fives chose to fly kites, the duo having a contest to see who's kite could stay up the longest as they raced around the beach to beat the other, trying desperately to catch air.

Benson, dressed in his hawaiian shirt, let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. It wasn't often he took the employees anywhere for the weekend. Usually, they just went off and did their own thing, going their seperate ways. But Benson had felt strangeley generous and without a second thought, he had rounded them all up, having called a meeting before hand, announced they were going to the beach, packing them up and driving off in Skips van.

The sound of the waves crashing against the sand slowly lulled Benson to sleep and soon, he felt himself drift off...

"Hey, Benson?"

Bensons eyes snapped open behind his glasses and he raised a hand to take them off. Mordecai and Rigby stood before him, dressed in board shorts, both dripping wet, wide grins plastered on their faces. He sat up.

"Yeah, what is it?"

Rigby's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Can we have some money for icecream? There's an icecream truck right near the car park, but we didn't bring any money." He explained.

Benson sighed irritably at being awoken for this. He dug in his pocket for five bucks then bought it out, slapping it in the raccoons outstretched hand. "Here. But you owe me five bucks."

"Yeah, sure." Rigby said hurriedly, then with Mordecai running ahead, raced to the car park where the ice cream truck sat.

Benson lay back down, putting his shades back on with another sigh. He closed his eyes again, happy the two were out of his hair for a few minutes. Figuratively speaking.

"WE GOT ICECREAM!"

He almost fell out his chair, but managed to regain his balance as the duo came down the steps, popsicles in their hands. Bensons heart slammed against his chest and he took deep breaths for it to slow. When Mordecai approached him, he frowned, seeing Rigby giving different coloured popsicles to each of the employees.

"How-" He began.

Mordecai smiled. "We wanted icecream, but there was a sale on popsicles, so we got these instead." He paused to rummage through the pile in his hands, producing a red one out to his boss. "Here's one for you."

While Benson didn't usually eat sweets, it was a nice gesture from his employee so he took it, smiling. "Thanks, Mordecai."

Mordecai flashed a brief smile then moved on to Skips, who accepted a green one, grumbling a thank you to the blue jay, who walked back over to Rigby. "Why did we get so many? There aren't that many people at the park."

Rigby shrugged. "Hey, there was a sale. Might as well strike while the irons hot. And anyway, we can just eat these afterwards."

Mordecai shook his head. "No, dude. They'll just melt in the sun. Maybe we can give these out to people on the beach?"

"What, give perfectly good popsicles out to completely random strangers?"

"It's a nice thing to do! Besides, it's better than having them go to complete waste."

Rigby had no choice but to agree. The blue jay did have a point, but he wasn't willing to argue, having lost past arguments over small things like this. He followed Mordecai around the beach, grumbling under his breath at him having to be social towards strangers and that being eaten by a shark would've been a better torture.

Around an hour later, the duo returned back to their spot, exhausted. Well, only Mordecai was exhausted. Because he had put hardly any effort in giving out his pile of popsicles, Rigby was packed full of energy and he sprinted to the water, grinning again.

Mordecai collapsed in an empty deck chair next to Benson, his arms hanging over the side. Despite the traces of sweat gracing his forehead, he was smiling, one eye closed from the glare of the sun. He waited to catch his breath before jumping up and racing to the water.

A few hours rolled by quick and soon, the sun was almost close to the horizon, rays of sunlight shining through the few clouds dotted in the air. Benson felt the change in temperature drop and he sat up, shivering. He stood when he saw the duo walking towards him, both of them smiling.

He turned to fold his chair up, but was stopped by Pops' childish giggle. Looking sideways, he saw Pops had pulled a polaroid camera from his beach bag and he was laughing at it in wonder.

"Oh, look what I found! It seems to be one of those still moment machines." He said, holding it up.

"You mean a camera, Pops?" Mordecai corrected, smiling.

Pops giggled at the realization. "Oh yes! A camera!" He began moving it at different angles, laughing at the views the camera showed. He pulled the camera away and looked at the employees all standing in different places. "Everyone, group photo!"

Although everyone despised group photos, they all forced smiles upon their faces and shifted closer to each other. Benson groaned inwardly as he was stuck between Mordecai and Thomas, but when Pops moved the camera to face them, he looked straight at it, a cheesy smile frozen on his lips for the seconds it took to take the polaroid. When it finally slipped out, a collective groan ran through the group, the smiles disappearing from their faces. Pops grabbed it and shook it.

"Oh, this is wonderful! A group photo!" He put the camera back in his bag and ran over to them, the polaroid in his hand. "What a memory to cherish." He said, handing the photo over to Benson, who chuckled at the naive mans attitude before setting eyes on the photo. As always when he looked at photos with himself in it, his eyes went straight to him, then drifted around him, to everyones faces. But with this photo, his eyes just stayed glued to his face, and what was around him.

He looked more happier than he had seen himself, the cheesy, fake grin seeming almost genuine. His body seemed more relaxed, despite the constant interruptions from the duo. Something caught Bensons attention, and for a few seconds, he wondered why he hadn't noticed it.

Mordecai's arm was slung around his shoulders and he was pulling him close as if the photo really was geuine, as if it meant something. But it was only a silly group photo, something to cheer Pops up...

Was it?

Benson let the photo be passed around from employee to employee, that one thought in his mind. It was still there when he sat in the back with Mordecai and Rigby, the duo throwing punchies at each other to pass the time.

The game ended quickly when Rigby's eyes started to brim with tears. Mordecai, feeling the familiar guilt, suddenly noticed Pops' beach bag and got out the camera. He smiled.

"Rigby, wanna take a photo with me?"

Rigby only glanced his way. "No way. You know I hate photos."

Mordecai rolled his eyes. "Benson, wanna take a photo with me?"

Benson was caught off guard. He pushed the thought away and smiled at his employee. "Sure."

Mordecai held the camera up high so the lens caught both of them. Benson shifted closer to Mordecai to get in the shot. When he felt an arm go around his shoulders, a shiver went up his spine. Now he noticed it. Maybe it was from the concentration of having to hold a fake smile for the group photo that took over his mind and ignored that one moment.

Mordecai pulled Benson closer, his forefinger of his left hand hovering over the flash button. Benson wrapped an arm around Mordecai's shoulders, smiling at the camera. He pushed the button down, capturing the moment. As Mordecai slipped his arm from his boss' shoulders to take the polaroid from the camera, Benson pulled away slightly, following suit. They both looked at the photo and once again, Bensons expression was the same; genuine, happy. But this time, he meant it. Mordecai smiled again.

"Hey, that's a great pic! You look pretty happy, Benson."

Benson smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I do." He said, his eyes on the photo. Although there was only the two in the picture, the way it was shot, how it was shot and more importantly, what was in the shot; their arms around each other, the creased smiles on the faces, and the hint of happiness in Bensons eyes in that one quick moment, made him understand.

He was cared for, no matter where he went, no matter what he did.

And it took one photo for him to realize.

_~ True love is worth waiting for, even if it takes a lifetime ~ _


End file.
